October 19, 2013 … God’s Saltiness

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 292

 Blogger's Note: [6:45am] … [I’m Late today because I woke up later than usual; and I must go, because of a commitment, to an early Men’s Fellowship at my church. … But patience, please, I’ll be back for sure before the day’s done to post what God is giving me to share today!]

 Blogger’s Note #2: [9:35am] … “I’m back!” … As committed above, I’ve returned to decidedly complete this morning’s devotional journaling. May the words of my writing be acceptable to our Lord and helpful to myself and all who meditate herein. 

Devotional Song: Go to this link -  Please take the time to meditate on this powerful song and video, the song sung by Phillips, Craig, and Dean, singing Tell Your Heart To Beat Again, … reminding Christians that we are being transformed by God’s grace so that we can have our heart beat in the service of God … to forgive ourselves and let our past be the saltiness God needs to use to bring others to Himself.
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 Highlight Passage: Mark 9:49-50 …  
49 “For everyone will be purified with fire. 50 Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.”

Highlight reading study of Mark, Chapter 9, Verses 42-50 : Go to this link … 
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Reference Passage #1: Matthew 5: 13 … [God uses our saltiness for His glory] … [NLT]  
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

Reference Passage #1: 1st Peter 1: 6-7 … [We are purified by the fires of life.] … [NLT] …
6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

My Journal for Today: I’m sure most – if not all who read here – know that we, Christians, are to be salt and light in this world (i.e., see Jesus’ commands in Matthew 5: 13-16). And I want to focus on the former part of that command concerning our “saltiness.”

We certainly don’t want to become worthless for service to God, losing our “saltiness,” do we? So, in today’s highlight passage, from Mark 9: 49 we get a sense of how God prepares His seasoners with His saltiness so that we can be used effectively in His service and for His glory,.

And you’ve read me journaling about this in blogs past, haven’t you? God generally puts His salt-bearers (i.e., His disciples) through a purifying process which involves bearing up under the fires of life so that we can be “salty” enough to be effective as His servants. Therefore, we shouldn’t be surprised, as Christians, that we’re going trough various challenging “fires” in life, … i.e., those events or processes which burn off the dross from our souls and purify us, … i.e., making us SALTY enough to be used by God in the world for His purposes.

 I’ll pray this AM that we all bear up under the fires of life and be purified unto “saltiness” … so that we can be effective as His healing agents in the world.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, put all who read here through Your fires so that we can be strongly salty for your witness and for your work. … Amen

Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online blog entitled Today God Is First [TGIF], authored by Os Hillman. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read Hillman’s TGIF blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.